Big Bunny's Girl of the Year (and December)

I am delighted to present this year's girl of the year: Sunny Leone. Wow. 

If she can't increase my readership, I don't know what will.

Big Bunny's Girl of the Year: The Runner-Ups

These 4 were contenders to be the Girl of the Year, but they didn't make it to the top of the list.

They're listed in random order.

Priya Rai



Priya's got a lot going for her, but not enough to be girl of the year.

Lucy Liu


Oh Lucy you're so juicy, but not juicy enough to be the girl of the year.

Leyrn Franco



You know the competition for the girl of the year honor is really tough if she can't win.

Sarah Shahi


Sarah's got a lot going for her, but not enough to be the girl of the year.

The Year in Review: Best Spots to Eat At

This is the first of the year-in-review theme.

These are what I'd consider to be my top 5.


5. The Foxley Bistro. I like this place a lot. The food is good. The atmosphere is good. What's not so good, is the wait to get a table if you come between 7:00 and 9:00. The menu is reasonably priced and tapas style. Dinner for two here can easily be $80 with a few beers.

Rating: 2 Bunnies

4. Tati If you asked be at the beginning of the year whether Tati would've made my top 5, I'd probably say no. But the place has grown on me as well as showing some improvements on some things that bugged me on my early visits to the place. Bistro food for the most part, with some other things mixed in at a decent price point. Nice place for dinner for 2 or a group. A younger crowd for the most part with good music and a couple of nice still life photographs (i like the one of the putty knifes especially). The wines are surprisingly good for the price points they offer them at. Not too shabby.

Rating: 1 Bunny

3. Teroni. I really like this place -- the courhouse one. The food is simple and good. The place is nice looking in a non-Toronto sort of way. I don't think you could go wrong here.

Rating: 1 Bunny

2. Delux. A new French Bistro on Ossington. I've been there quite a few times. So I know enough about it to review it, just haven't found the time to collect my thoughts. This a low key spot where minimalist is the operative word -- from the layout of the place to the menu and the wine list. The menu is simple and well curated, but solid. They are big on the characturie, and they might do most of it on sight (i'll have to ask about the sausage next time i go). Even the deserts are good. And you get all of this at a reasonable price. Hopefully, the economic downturn doesn't hurt this place.

Rating: Unrated -- no review yet

1. Boba Well this is the second time a number #1 pick on my year in review has gone out of business. It's a shame. Of all the Yorkville high end places I've been too this is easily the best. They took things like the food and the service seriously. But I guess the owners decided to move or try something different. Oh well ...

Rating: 2 Bunnies

Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool

Big Bunny's Girl of the Month: Gina Lynn

This month keep's the latin flavour and features Gina Lynn, although it's not readily apparent from the pictures -- she's not a real blonde. Gina has puerto rican and italian parents, started working as a stripper in her senior year at a catholic high school (according to wikepedia) and then progressed to working as a model and finally as a porn star, appearing in such classics such as "Drowning in Bitch Juice 3", "Oil Overload" -- a favourite of mine, "Big Tits at Work" and "Breast Seller 2" among many others (appearing in more than 100 fils). But Gina isn't an actress she also works behind the camera as a director -- talented and hot -- directing such features as Ultimate Feast 2 and 3, Black Attack 2 and some releases in the the Filthy Ho's and Fresh Breed series.

I'm sorry that this one is light on the pictures, but there is lack of jpeg's out there.

Real Estate Signs: A New Media Outlet

The street side garbage/recycling receptacles is a major outlet for real estate agents to advertise. But lately I've been noticing that some agents have been going upmarket. I guess its too degrading to have your image and slogan just below a garbage receptacle and get garbage and stuff seeping down on your brand.

The bus shelter sign is the new garbage can sign.

Check this one out.

"A new standard of excellence", as opposed to the old standard of excellence? Why not "Excellence in excellence!"?

This guy even has a little ad campaign going.


He's got a strategy that he's selling you. He has 74 options to choice from to help you.
First, he tells you his method 12.

Then he's got his method 31.



What I don't get is if he actually buys ads for all his methods? Probably not, because then he would just be giving away his secret to other real estate agents who would track down his signs or read this blog.

But I'm going to keep an eye for more ads from him to see if he reveals his secrets.

Big Bunny's Girl of the Month: Eva Mendes

The temperature's starting to drop, so lets warm up around the hot and sultry Eva Mendes. Eva joins Selma Hayek as Campari calendar girls who are also girls of the month.

Real Estate Divas?

This caught my eye. I remember there being 2 divas before, but the flip side of the sign didn't have the other diva.


Here's the original sign

There should be 2 of them one that looks like Peg Bundy and another one.

I wonder what happened to the other diva? Maybe the lifestyle for a real estate diva is too fast paced -- drinks at a cougar bar, drinks at divorcee night at some hotel bar bear the airport, late dinners at Red Lobster or the Keg -- and she burned out. Or maybe they got into a fight. Peg might have stolen the other ones boyfriend or something.

hmmmmmm.........

I'm not sure we'll ever know for sure.

Tati Revisted

I've previously reviewed this spot, and while it wasn't a disaster it wasn't overwhelming either. But things can change over time.

I didn't know this until this summer, but apparently this place is named after the french comedian/director Jacques Tati. They also have a movie poster for one of his films when you first come in. Kind of neat. Better than picking something like "Wild Thing". Have to tip my cap to the owner on this one.

The scene is still pretty mixed, but does lean more heavily to the young side. The musical selections are always pretty decent. You can hear anything from some indie rock stuff to miles davis stuff from the 2nd great quintet.

The service is casual and friendly. They have an all girl crew working here. One is a holdover from earlier in the year, but the rest seem new. They all kind of share. So you can get served by any of them, especially on a busy night. Some of the waitresses are pretty hot as well. The Saturday night crew is particularly noteworthy. There are 2 blonds and a brunette who will give anyone who's a little bit of pervert a bit of exercise for their neck muscles. I have to tip my cap to the owner on this one as well.

The wine list here is pretty well stocked. I've never been disappointed by the wines I've had here. Like a lot of places a lot of the better wines are in the $80-$100 or above range. However, unlike a lot of other places you can still work the wine list for a really good choice in the $40-50 range. I had this really great California Zinfandel there and it was about $48. They also have a Malbec there that they sell by the glass, which is really good. I had a glass and i could smell the bouquet without doing anything to it. I think a bottle is in the low $40 range.

The appetizers are always pretty good. The snails are really good as is the salad with bits of bacon/ham. They also have an antipasto platter which has a little cheese, some cured meats, a grilled pepper, some olives, grilled calamari, grilled shrimp, ... . I know that this is not authentic french bistro fare, but the ironic thing is that the french bistro does antipasto better than a lot of Italian spots.

I think there's been some change over in the menu. I don't remember some of the things that are on there from before. But in any event, aside from the foray into the pasta, its standard french bistro. The cassolulet here is really hearty. I almost didn't finish. The serving size is pretty decent -- noteworthy since most portion sizes are shrinking as the economy goes into the shitter -- and the cassoulet is in the medium range for richness. So its not as heavy as the cassoulet at Pastis for example, but it's not a light weight either. They also have this monk fish that they prepare like a lobster, which is quite good. It might actually be the lightest main on the menu. I say lightest because the most of the mains are really rich or filling. Take the black cod. I thought that this would have been pretty light, but I think they cooked it in a lot of butter and it comes with this truffle oil mash potatoes -- so it was pretty hard to finish. I'd say the fall back options on the menu would be anything with frites: the steak, the bavette and the mussels (when they're in season -- months with an r in them).

The deserts are pretty decent. The coffee was a real weak point during my earlier visits. But one of the new girls is doing a lot better job. The coffee is decent now -- it would definitely be better than Starbucks now -- so its drinkable.

This is definitely a medium price range place, your looking at $100 or so for dinner with a few glasses of wine. They also have a decent looking fixed price menu on Sunday to Wednesday for $25.

Overall, not too shabby. A nice little spot to go for dinner for two or for bigger groups if you're looking for a french bistro with a younger scene.

Rating: 1 Bunny

Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool

Keepin' It Realtor

I found this site just today: Keepin' It Realtor. They take submissions of real estate ads and post them. They also hand out an award on the ad.

I'm not sure, but it looks like its based here in Toronto because a lot of the ads look like they're from here or maybe they have a lot of readers from Toronto. I guess some people have submitted some ads that I had posted previously.

Its great to see another blog pop up and devote itself to the sharing of these great ads. I haven't done a real estate sign post in a while, but I'll have a few for you in the next weeks.

Spotlight on Gear: Aladdin Style Footwear

If you need something to rock to the club and get ready for the ladies how about these.







I'll have to admit, I'm not sure if the Aladdin thing is played out and you're supposed to be moving to a more duck feet kind of look. In any event, lets have a closer look.

Here's something with the edgy Aladdin toe



You see that it comes to a point and curves up. This is the style that I thought was on the leading edge of douche bag fashion.

But when you see them along these two with wider and flatter fronts as well as a bit of snakeskin pattern, I'm not so sure what the leading edge of douche bag fashion is anymore.



These ones have a wider toe, but have a bit of the arc associated with the Aladdin style toe. Could they be some sort of hybrid style?



Now the metal tip on these toes is clearly late-1980s or early-1990s gino. This might be a retro look or could it be a revival?



The Mondrian style colour blocking on these is a really different detail. You don't see that every day, so I guess that's going to grab a lot of attention when you rock them to the club.

Recent Trends in Food: Cured Meats

I was reading this article on a new trend in Italian restaurants in the U.S. Apparently, a lot of the high end spots are starting to cure their own meats and serve them their own instead of buying the industrial made stuff.

How about this to get you salivating. A nice cooler full of prosciutto (with a few cappocollos in there was well).



To make this the old school way you need the hind leg from a pig, some salt, black pepper (and perhaps some chili peppers if you're into a little more heat) and at least 10 months to cure the meat. Of course there's the initial preparation of the meat that needs to be done properly, so this not for amateurs. You need a pro to do it, which is why these places in the U.S. are getting someone specialized to do it.

This looks like some sort of salami, but if you ask me it looks pretty industrial grade.



Now this is a capocollo. This is the real thing. Its made from the shoulder of a pig. The meat is different from the hind leg -- I think its not as a tough. Its a solid slab of meat that gets black peppercorns inserted in the meat. It's then wrapped in a casing that is coated with pepper and other seasonings and then bound with string.

Just look at it. Its magnificent.

Here's some speck. As I understand, speck is a cross between the salting methods used by Italians and the smoking methods used by Germans and Northern Europeans. I guess you end up with something in between in terms of the flavours and textures.


The bresaola, is something I didn't try until recently at Teroni. It was pretty tasty. It's made from beef. From the descriptions I've read, it's sounds like its kind of made like a capocollo. It has a really nice colour and texture to it. I'd like to get close to one and smell it.


It would be nice if this trend in authentic cured meats made its way up here. As far as I can tell it's all over New York. There's even this new french bistro Bar Boulud, which is run by some guy from Lyons. Apparently, Lyons is well known for its sausage in France. So this guy brings in a charcutier, who is someone who basically makes sausage, cured meats as well as other things from pork, from Lyons to give the place the authentic stuff -- instead of the shit you can get at a supermarket. Up here, the closet I've heard to this trend is Teroni getting their prosciutto from a guy who makes them the old fashioned way. Still that's a start.

Wild Thing Espresso and Gelato Bar

Little place on Harbord near Central Tech. The place took over a dive burger joint that used to be frequented by the thugs from Central Tech.

The name is quite unfortunate. I once saw these two guys give each other a high 5 and say wild thing when they saw the sign on the place.

The place is on the first floor of a Victorian house, but most of the original details are long gone. Its got the restoration hardware lighting, exposed brick on one wall. The guys who run this place have no taste in music. I've heard this techo lounge stuff playing in the place, and then on other days its kind of like classic rock (led zeppelin, beatles) mixed in with stuff like diana kral or something like that. Having no music would be a definite improvement in the atmosphere. They also have pretty shitty magazines in the place, elle and similar titles.

To me the crowd looks like a lot of University students and the occasional local. They don't have a lot seating so usually there's something like a half dozen customers or so in the place.

I haven't tried the gelato, not sure if they make it on site. They also do grilled panino's, but not sure how that works out. In terms of the coffee, there are at least 2 guys who work the machine. One is pretty decent, the other is much less so. So if you get the better one you can get a decent americano or espresso. He's got pretty good technique and does all the little things. The other guy is no where near as competent. The second stringers they have at Manic Coffee are better than him. Also if you want to put milk or cream in your coffee or americano then you have to ask for it because they don't have a little place where you can add your own like other coffee places. I'm not sure if they're trying to save a little money or something but its kind of annoying because they don't actually tell you that they don't have any milk available. They also nickel and dime you on the serving sizes. For example, like Manic and Ella's Uncle they serve an iced latte. The price of the iced latte is a little more, but the serving size looks to be a lot smaller. I've been checking the place out for a while and the prices of the americano have also increased from the early part of the summer, but the size of the cup (to stay) is also smaller.

Overall, with Manic Coffee in the neighbourhood not sure this is worth it. If you get the skilled guys at Manic its going to be better than here. If you get the less skilled guys at Manic its still better than here. The atmosphere is also better at Manic.

Rating: 0 Bunnies

Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool

Movie Posters

I was checking out some blaxploitation soundtracks -- which are a bit of a passion for me -- and was really surprised at the movie posters and how interesting they were. I don't really see that in more contemporary posters, but I guess that does along with general decline in quality in most things.

The Foxy Brown poster has a lot of details and the catch phrase. Nice soundtrack too, by Willie Hutch.


Black Mama White Mama is a little more out of control. I like the ".. where they come from this is fun." Never seen the movie, it looks like the same sort of idea as that movie with Sydney Poitier and Tony Curtis when they escape from prison, but this one looks like it might be a lot raunchier.



Savage, which has a really nice soundtrack, also takes the poster to a comparable level.



He's more than a man he's a death machine. Pretty much lays it out pretty clearly. But what really takes this to the next level is catch phrase at the bottom: "Men call him Savage, Women call him all the time".

Now how about this for suggestive:



This should've gotten an Oscar, since they give them for almost everything. "Watch the landlord get his". I can just see it, "I'm sorry I don't have the money this month. Is there something else I could do?" Then you cue the porno music.

Big Bunny's Girl of the Month: Mylene Jampanoi

Even though she's a French actress, Mylene has a bit of an American Apparel look to her. Maybe she spent some time in Montreal?

Le Corbusier

This is style incarnate. Smoking jacket with peaked lapels; bow tie; pocket square; and, horn rim glasses.

Anyone who works in a smoking jacket is a hardcore as far as I'm concerned

Landscape Design and Patios

This caught my eye the other day (these are high resolution images, so just click to get the supersized version):



It's a giant bronzed lion!!! Imagine that in a city. Some of you might be wondering who would have a bronzed lion. Well as you can see in the followup photo, it's on the patio of an Italian cafe.


I wonder who the designer was that came up with this idea. Could it be Tarzan? Perhaps. But most likely it was someone with a name like Guido Tartaglia or something like that. He probably wanted to claim part of the imperial glory of the Roman Empire, which he perceives to be his ancestry and heritage -- even though he probably has more in common with the moors than the Romans. If he was going for the Roman thing he should have gone all out, and put in like a temple and fountains and maybe dress the staff in togas.

This place -- besides having the bronze lion -- also has some interesting quirks. For example, when you order lunch, apparently you write down your order on paper and pass it to the staff. They also put a tip on your bill for both large and small parties, before you get served. The next step in this service philosophy would be to let you go into the kitchen and make your own lunch after you pay.

Erotic Art vs Pornography: Part II

Most of the pictures from the last post disappeared, so I decided to use websites instead.

I don't think that there's any doubt that a site call chicksnbreasts -- hot girls, sexy pictures and videos -- would lean to the porn side of things. They basically search Flickr and post pics that they find there. Most of these are like the snapshots no one is supposed to see, but somehow get posted to the internet.

The line gets much more blurred with debauchette and beautiful and depraved. I think this are run by women and it seems to have a more highbrow leaning. There's little stories and commentary. Lots of black and white photographs, but then there's the hardcore stuff. Most of the time, its on the erotic art side of things, but then it crosses over in straight porn.

FIFTYROOMS is pretty firmly on the erotic art side of things. It lists the name of the photographers who are participating -- after you go through a warning message. You click on the name of the photographer and it takes you to their contribution. All the images are Polaroids. The only contributor that I recognized was Merlin Bronques from lastnightsparty. If you're familiar with his urban pinups -- if you're not you should be -- that's sort of stuff you'd see here, although everyone does it differently.

Black Tuesday

A few changes to some past ratings.

Bar Italia:

This used to be a 1 Bunny place. Why does it lose its bunny? First, what they serve and call a risotto should probably be called a soup. If it was a little clumpy it would be a bad risotto, but what they serve is horrible. Second, when they say they use buffalo mozzarella in their caprese they are only using the term and not the real thing. Third, some of the staff have no idea what campari is. The difference between something like Bar Italia and Terroni, is like the difference between Listerine and a good single malt scotch (like a Glenlivet or Highland Park 10 or 12 year old). They might want to think about getting rid of the kitchen and putting in some extra seating and just be a bar.

Rating: 0 Bunnies

Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool

Manic Coffee:

This used to a 2 Bunny place. it used to be that you could walk into the place and not worry who the Barrista was. Not so anymore. They've got a new crew working the place. I suppose you might expect a certain amount of turnover, but the replacements right now, except for a slim girl with tattoos, aren't that great. The go-to-guy is still Steve. He's got one of those thin mustaches and is pretty mellow. I think he works mornings and early afternoon (1:00 or so).

Rating: 1 Bunny

Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool

Terroni @ the Courthouse

The place is pretty impressive -- high ceilings, nice floors, marble, nice wood (reclaimed douglas fir) and ornate plaster work. This is a big place, but its broken up into distinct rooms. There's a bar area with a banquette when you come, the hostess is in a corridor and you tell her how many. She then basically figures out where you'll sit or have to wait -- no reservations. You can get seated in one of two rooms, a smaller one of two the side and a large one in the middle with a big fireplace. The smaller room has like a gallery or balcony on top so the ceilings have a lot of height. They also have a few private rooms: the one upstairs has a more contemporary look to it, but the basement one makes you think of those movie scenes where you get these little Italian cantina around the time of WWII. My favourite thing about the place is the giant case where they keep the prosciutto's at the front -- makes my mouth water.

The patio is nice. It's pretty understated. It backs onto to a square or green area for some condos or something. It kind of reminds me of this side street just off of St Denis in Montreal where the patios for the restaurants and cafes spill out onto the street.

The crowd tends to lean towards the younger end of the age spectrum, but the you get all sorts here. Pretty casual and relaxed.

The service is decent. I mean this is not the sort of place where you're going to get a personalized meal planner and spectacle when they serve you, but they answer your questions and are friendly and polite.

In terms of drinks and wine, they keep it real. If you're looking for a place to go get fruit martinis and shit like that this is not the place for you. So you can get cocktails and drinks that Italians drink. I like that, no pandering to local tastes. So if you order a Campari, you're not going to have your server say things like "Excuse me, can you say that again" or "I'll have to check whether we have that", or even worse bring you a cranberry juice.

The wine list is pretty extensive. I have to admit I've had some trouble sorting through it because its so extensive. To really work through it well you have to have a pretty good knowledge of Italian wines or perhaps a good knowledge of the wines from some region. I'm not sure the staff would be too much of a help. The last time I order wine there I asked for some help and got a glowing recommendation, but the wine turned out to be really pedestrian. Of course, if you've got some money to spend you're going to be able to find something decent -- you can probably sort most of these wines by price. But if you're on a budget its tougher to work the list. There's no house wine to fall back on.

The menu is basically simple southern Italian food -- although I'm not sure how the smoked salmon pannino made it on to the menu. So stuff is done in a homey kind of way. For example, if your secondi dish comes with broccoli then the broccoli is prepared the way an Italian mother might prepare it -- boiled, garnished with some olive oil and sprinkled with chili peppers.

The salads are nice and you can tell that they don't go cheap on the ingredients. For example, if you get the buffalo mozzarella caprese you really get fresh buffalo mozzarella that tastes different from what is described as buffalo mozzarella at most. The salads are all relatively light so you can get two or maybe three for two persons and sample the menu. The fried calamari come super-sized. They only come with some slices of lemon and they're done well -- not soggy, not burnt, just right.

The pastas there, broadly speaking, come in a tomato sauce or without (cream or oil based). Personally, I'm not a fan of the tomato sauce ones because the tomatoes aren't cooked before making the sauce, so you get a little more of the acidic taste of tomatoes. But this would be true for almost all Italian spots. So they would be fine for people with less refined palettes who can't tell the difference. Of the ones without the tomato sauce, I tend to prefer the aoili e olio ones (oil and garlic). For example, the pappardelle (thick fettuccine) with sausage, peas and mushrooms is kind of like a bolognese, but without the sauce. The serving sizes are relatively big.

They do thin crust pizza's well here too. Big variety to pick from.

Surprisingly, coffee is not really a strength here -- but then the places that can serve well made coffee are few and far between. On the other hand, the deserts are well done. They have a flour less chocolate cake on the menu right now that's really good. The tiramisu is also a nice fall back pick.

A dinner for 2 (2 starters, 2 mains and a shared desert) with a few drinks will be about $80-$100. So this is in the medium price range.

Overall, you can't go wrong with this place. Good food and great vibe. I'd say they set the pace for simple Italian food in the city. As much as I like the place, I can't give it two bunnies though, its a real close call. There's just something missing -- maybe they need some real Italian guys roaming around the place or a sommelier to help out with wines -- but its really close. But this place gets a bunny without any reservations.

Rating: 1 Bunny

Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool

Musical Selections: The Beat Konducta

Checked out Madlib's Beat Konducta Vol. 5: Dil Cosby Suite, which is a J Dilla tribute beat tape (J. Rocc from Stones Throw is involved too). Nice cover:

Really smooth, most of the tracks are less than 2 minutes. This is really smooth, you can keep listening to this over and over again and not really get bored with it. If you are into the mellower beats on J Dilla's Donuts then you'll like this. The only negative about this is that its so short -- about 33 minutes.

I don't think this is really recent, I just listened to it for the first time, but Madlib's Raw Ground Wire Hump (Beat Konducta in India 45) is also worth checking out. Not surprisingly -- this has a real Bollywood soundtrack feel to it. The 45 has Raw Ground Wire Parts 1 to 4 on it. There was a track called Raw Ground Wire on his Beat Konducta Vol 3-4, but none of the 4 parts on the 45 sound like it. The Bollywood soundtrack thing does come through pretty clearly on a few parts of this -- the other two are more low key influences. Again this really short, about 6 or 7 minutes. But then you can get more the stuff on Beat Konducta Vol 3-4.